Earlier this week, I took a day trip to San Francisco to celebrate my birthday and explore the Color Factory! It was a super fun way to spend my birthday with my pal Lindsey (a fellow flight attendant), since my husband was out of town for work and I would have just been sitting around. It was kind of exhausting flying 4.5 hours each way in such a short amount of time, but well worth the sleep deprivation!
The Color Factory is an interactive art exhibit that focuses on color, and lots of it! Each room you walk through is themed, whether it was the blue room full of balloons, the yellow room with a ball pit, or the disco ball room with prisms of color dancing around the space. We smelled some scratch and sniff walls, we indulged in a macaroon off the rotating color wheel, threw confetti in the air, and drew on the wall with giant markers. It was fun, zany, and definitely brings out your inter child! I recommend to anyone that plans to be in the San Francisco area to join their mailing list to get alerts on their ticket sales, because tickets go fast. You don’t want to miss this fun experience!
If you aren’t going to be in San Francisco, no worries! The Color Factory is one of several super fun interactive art exhibits and installations around the country. Check out the list below of other places you can explore and live all your color fantasies!
Location: San Francisco and Miami (with a former Los Angeles location)
This dessert inspired art pop-up makes all your sweet dreams come true! As quoted from the “About” section of the website, “Remember those crazy ideas you dreamed up as a kid? The Museum of Ice Cream is where ideas are transformed into real life experiences. A place where flavors are mysteries, toppings are toys, and sprinkles make the world a better place. Our mission is to design environments that bring people together and provoke imagination.”
(Photo Credit: Miami.com)
Location: Los Angeles
Happy Place is just that, happy and full of color! As quoted from their “about” page, “We BELIEVE that our world today can use a lot more happiness. To make this DREAM come true, we set out on a journey to create a special place where anyone who walks in is surrounded by all things HAPPY.
HAPPY PLACE is filled with larger than life size installations, multi-sensory immersive rooms, and dozens of moments curated to Capture Your Happy. Some highlights include: taking photos in a golden wonderland in the super bloom room, standing in the middle of the world’s largest indoor confetti dome surrounded by half a million pieces of confetti, jumping from a rainbow into a pot with over 25,000 smiley face coins inside, and posing inside HAPPY PLACE‘s signature rubber ducky cubby of fun.”
(Photo Credit: Happy Place)
Location: Las Vegas
Seven Magic Mountains is a temporary public art piece by Ugo Rondinone. According to Rondinone, “the location is physically and symbolically mid-way between the natural and the artificial: the natural is expressed by the mountain ranges, desert, and Jean Dry Lake backdrop, and the artificial is expressed by the highway and the constant flow of traffic between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.”
Location: Philadelphia
“Part psychedelic adventure, part artistic marvel, this mosaic labyrinth covers half a city block in underground passageways and staircases, all constructed from multicolored ceramic shards, as well as truly random knick knacks like bicycle spokes.”
(Photo Credit: Thrillist.com)
Location: Amarillo, TX
“This artwork/roadside attraction, situated on Route 66 right outside of Amarillo, comprises ten classic Cadillacs buried hood-first in the dirt by three hippies from San Francisco. If it reminds you of anything, know that the guys were paying homage to the Great Pyramid of Giza, as well as the iconic Cadillac. And that graffiti was not the artist’s’ idea — the Cadillacs quickly became a target for local taggers.”
(Photo Credit: Thrillist.com)
Location: Miami
“Check out dozens of pieces of street art without sore feet or multiple cab fares at this self-described “Museum of the Streets.” Since 2009, Wynwood Walls’ 80,000 square feet of stark, warehouse building walls have served as ever-changing canvases for 50 street artists from 16 different countries.”
(Photo Credit: Thrillist.com)
Location: Austin, TX
“This community paint park in downtown Austin was established in 2011 as an experiment, and quickly became a local mainstay — and favorite spot for thousands of selfies. Don’t become too attached to anything on the walls though: the murals and graffiti are constantly changing, and even the largest, most-intricate pieces are subjected to frequent “LISA & JOE 4EVA” tags.”
(Photo Credit: Thrillist.com)
SALVATION MOUNTAIN
Location: Calipatria, California
“The mountain is covered in messages about love and prayers, as well as dozens of Leonard Knight’s paintings of brightly-colored blue birds, trees, waterfalls, and flowers. Besides being regarded as one of the most notable pieces of “outsider art” in the United States, the piece also serves as a landmark for Slab City, a squatter community in the desert that bills itself as “the last free place in America.”
(Photo Credit: Thrillist.com)
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